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Mothers Matter: Using Regression Tree Algorithms to Predict Adolescents’ Sharing of Drunk References on Social Media

Authors :
Kathleen Beullens
David Winant
Sebastian Kurten
Source :
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Volume 18, Issue 21, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol 18, Iss 11338, p 11338 (2021)
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2021.

Abstract

Exposure to online drinking on social media is associated with real-life alcohol consumption. Building on the Theory of planned behavior, the current study substantially adds to this line of research by identifying the predictors of sharing drunk references on social media. Based on a cross-sectional survey among 1639 adolescents with a mean age of 15 (59% female), this study compares and discusses multiple regression tree algorithms predicting the sharing of drunk references. More specifically, this paper compares the accuracy of classification and regression tree, bagging, random forest and extreme gradient boosting algorithms. The analysis indicates that four concepts are central to predicting adolescents’ sharing of drunk references: (1) exposure to them on social media<br />(2) the perceived injunctive norms of the mother towards alcohol consumption<br />(3) the perceived descriptive norms of best friends towards alcohol consumption<br />and (4) willingness to drink alcohol. The most accurate results were obtained using extreme gradient boosting. This study provides theoretical, practical, and methodological conclusions. It shows that maternal norms toward alcohol consumption are a central predictor for sharing drunk references. Therefore, future media literacy interventions should take an ecological perspective. In addition, this analysis indicates that regression trees are an advantageous method in youth research, combining accurate predictions with straightforward interpretations.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
16604601
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....3513f26e7704f894c08e3f1430f7a6a4
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111338